July 2014

The long days and short nights of midsummer are a special time. We retreat from our intense work schedules and attend festivals and celebrations, some crowded and intense, others quiet and restorative. We travel, take vacations, entertain friends and relax on warm summer evenings. As the night deepens, activity fades, and the lulling sounds of nature and warm breezes create a seductive environment, inspiring ambient composers to create poetic images of a soft, nurturing night.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, an hour of ambient music for the season, on a program called MIDSUMMER NIGHT 3. Music is by ASCENDANT, DEEPER NET, ISHQ, ALTUS, S7VEN, CLAUDIO CASANUEVA, and RUDY ADRIAN.

The gene-splicing of the centuries-old Indian devotional chant with 20th-century recording technology and electronic instruments gave birth to a new hybrid. It began as a religious folk music tradition called kirtan, "a celebration of spirit through the chanting of sacred names."

Imported from India by adventurous westerners in the 1970s, it evolved into a more complex style: part devotional chant, part western pop orchestration, part expanded ambience. Fueled by the worldwide growth of yoga, in the last 30 years it's attracted a diverse international audience.

For Hearts of Space fans, it may take a bit of extra effort to extract the Ambient experience from the vocal textures and exotic Sanskrit lyrics. But for open-minded, open-hearted listeners, this music offers a sensitive world of authentic grassroots spirituality.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, an Ambient devotional journey called ENCHANTING. Music is by DEVA PREMAL & MITEN, MANISH VYAS, JAYA LAKSHMI & ANANDA, SHANTALA, CHINMAYA DUNSTER, JOY, and SACRED EARTH.

Summer...inspires an even more ethereal brand of Ambient electronica. Whether flying or floating on the balmy breezes, the sounds are airy and the movement is light and buoyant. The words we use to describe the moods it creates are superlative: joyous, blissful, ecstatic, delightful — even heavenly. And when it comes to heaven, for some reason we prefer the seventh.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space...an ambient-electronic-summer-journey called CLOUD NINE. (Yes, we also number the clouds.) Music is by CHRONOTOPE PROJECT, FANGER & SCHONWALDER, JOHN LYELL, ARIEL KALMA, and DAVE LUXTON.

This week we gather for our yearly July 4th celebration of American independence. It's a festive affair, with food, fun and fireworks. In the last few years, the celebration has often been tempered by continuing national, global and planetary challenges, and this year is no exception. Somehow, it all seems to make the day more precious — a haven from cares...and reconnection with friends and family on a fine summer day.

We take comfort in familiar food, games, and music. The summer concert season is in full swing: from neighborhood bars and county fairs to giant festivals, the panorama of celebratory American music is all around us, punctuated by dazzling visions in the night sky.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we look back at the quiet roots of American music — folk tunes, hymns and ballads — and the simple purity of traditional acoustic instruments, on a program called AMERICAN REFLECTIONS.